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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIX. No. 480. 



association and it was more active in interest- 

 ing the general public. This may be due to 

 one of two causes, or to both: (1) To the 

 change from summer to winter meetings; (2) 

 to the tendency to discontinue the former 

 policy of ' science extension ' work, and to the 

 desire to federate the different scientific so- 

 cieties of the country. 



With regard to the last question, however 

 much there may be in favor of it, there are, 

 I believe, grave obstacles in the way of secur- 

 ing a satisfactory federation even if it were 

 desirable. There still would remain the defi- 

 nite field of work and the special problenis 

 for consideration on the part of specialists 

 and investigators which have led them to 

 organize distinct societies, with membership 

 necessarily determined in some eases on a dif- 

 ferent basis from that of the American Asso- 

 ciation. Furthermore, such a federation 

 would not be successful unless it practically 

 included all the prominent scientific societies. 



There seems to be a growing feeling on the 

 part of many members that greater emphasis 

 should be laid on the social features of the 

 meeting, i. e., the opportunity for the meeting 

 of friends, for making new ones, and for 

 friendly discussions. This is one of the most 

 wholesome features of the meetings ; but large 

 meetings do not encourage this so much as 

 smaller gatherings, for under the present 

 system of making up the programs there are 

 too many papers. 



. I believe the most successful field for the 

 work of the American Association, since it is 

 a broad and inclusive one, is that of dealing 

 with subjects of more general scientific inter- 

 est. If the programs of the different sections 

 were confined to subjects of general interest, 

 the papers on the program would be fewer, 

 there would be more time and inclination to 

 discuss them, and the interest would be 

 greater. Printing abstracts in advance, as in 

 the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science, would increase particularly the 

 opportunity for discussion. More general 

 papers would offer an opportunity for mem- 

 bers of different sections to hear something 

 of matters of general interest outside of their 

 own specialty, and would make sectional meet- 



ings of greater interest to the general public. 

 The interest of the general public in the work 

 of the association has in the past been one of 

 its aims as shown by the encouragement given 

 to local members by placing them on commit- 

 tees and encouraging them to become tem- 

 porary members, as well as by the lecture 

 given ' complimentary to the citizens ' of the 

 place where the meetings were held. 



I believe the American Association might 

 be the means of doing a great work for science 

 in the United States (which the special so- 

 cieties can not do so well) by emphasizing the 

 social features of these gatherings, by em- 

 phasizing this feature of science extension in 

 encouraging the interest of its members in 

 the general progress of all departments of 

 science, and by bringing it within the reach 

 of the great mass of secondary school and 

 academy teachers, as well as the educated 

 public who are interested in learning the gen- 

 eral results of scientific research. In this 

 way the field for the special societies would 

 be more clearly marked. Many of them would 

 probably be glad to work generally in affilia- 

 tion with the association, their papers of 

 general interest to be presented before the sec- 

 tions, while each would at other times differ- 

 entiate into their individual sections for the 

 more technical papers, to which, of course, 

 any member of the association or an outsider 

 would be welcome if he chose to attend. 



Then since Science is generally recognized 

 as the official organ of the association its field 

 might be directed more definitely to what 

 might be the field of the association, and cease 

 to publish matter which is not of general 

 scientific interest, or at least cease to publish 

 technical or special notes, which are more ap- 

 propriately published elsewhere. Science is 

 the medium for the discussion of questions of 

 general scientific interest, for the publication 

 of addresses or papers of general interest pre- 

 sented before the meetings of the association, 

 and for bringing to its patrons weekly sum- 

 maries of the important and interesting re- 

 sults of scientific research, discovery and 

 travel. This latter feature should be as com- 

 plete as possible, and Science would form a 



